Rev. Debbie Cato
Matthew 4:1-11 | Genesis 2:15-17,
3:1-7
Fairfield Community Church
February 26 , 2023
Holy God, Listening is always easier said than
done. We shuffle into this space and try to quiet our minds, but the list of
distractions is long. We need your help to listen. So today we ask that you marinate
us in your Word. Dust the cobwebs from our ears. Stir our souls awake. Crack
open our hearts to make room for you. Scoop us up. Put us in your pocket. Carry
us with you wherever you go. We want to hear you, really hear you, so speak to
us now. With hope we pray, amen.
Who Will You Listen To?
Lent is the six-week season that leads up to Easter. The Lenten season is one of the most significant times of the year for many Christians around the world and it should be for us too. The Lenten season is a preparation for commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus at Easter. From its start date on Ash Wednesday until its conclusion on Easter Sunday, Lent has been a customary time for fasting, giving something up, or abstinence. Sometimes we add something to help us focus on our relationship with God – something we don’t normally do. Just as we thoughtfully prepare for events in our individual lives, such as weddings or birthdays, participating in Lent invites us to prepare our minds and hearts for glorifying Jesus’ life, death, and bodily resurrection. The purpose of Lent is to fully recognize our brokenness as humans and the need for a Savior. The time period of Lent allows us to reflect and open our hearts to Jesus.
Christian author Kevin Nye says that, “In the gospels, Jesus is asked 187 questions. He answers (maybe) eight of them. He himself asks 307. Maybe faith isn’t about certainty,” he says, “ but about learning to ask – and sit in the complexity of good questions.[1]”
During this season of Lent, we are going to be seeking – seeking honest questions for a deeper faith. We won’t always answer the questions. Jesus didn’t. Being drawn toward a deeper faith, and toward God at its center, will naturally come with questions, big questions that dwarf our simplistic answers.[2]
Today we are asking the question “ Who do you listen to?” Who do you listen to? There are a lot of voices to choose from! The internet where there is no limit of different people who would like us to read and believe and repeat their opinions. There are movie stars and sports stars and journalists and authors and I could go on and on. And of course there are family members and friends and co-workers who have something to say about things. Even people in the lines at grocery stores have an opinion they would like to share with us. Voices surround us everywhere we go. Who do you listen to?
In today’s scripture passages we find people who have a choice to make. Who do they choose to listen to?
We know these stories. The first takes place in the garden. God has provided everything that Adam and Eve need. The garden is a place of beauty and peace. It’s creation the way God intended it to be. The way He created it. Adam and Eve have access to everything. All the fruits and vegetables are available for them to eat and enjoy. All the animals and birds and fish – available for their enjoyment. There is only one thing that God said is not for them One thing. The tree in the middle of the garden. God said, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”
Life is good for Adam and Eve. It’s easy. God has met every need. They are content. That is until the serpent comes along and tells Eve that she really is not as content as she thinks. There is something missing in her life. His voice gets into Eve’s head. “You will not die, 5 for God knows that when you eat of that tree, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,[k] knowing good and evil.” 6says the serpent.
This is the moment Eve has a choice of who to listen to. This moment. Right now. Before she does anything. She has a choice. Will she listen to God who has provided so lovingly for her and Adam? Or will she listen to the serpent who entices her to eat of the one and only tree that God has told her is off limits? The serpent whom she just met and knows nothing about. Who will Eve listen to?
We know the answer to this question, don’t we? The answer changes the trajectory of her and Adam’s lives forever. By the grace of God, they do not die. God decides, out of love, to save them. But He kicks them out of the beautiful garden that has met all their needs and life becomes harder than they knew it could be. They have sinned and the punishment is harsh. Their sin impacts humankind down through the generations to us.
Immediately after his baptism, Jesus is led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tested by the devil. The same devil that tempted Eve. Jesus must be prepared for his ministry – which will be difficult and full of tests. First, Jesus fasts for forty days and forty nights. Five weeks and five days. Matthew tells us that “Jesus was famished.” We can assume he was weak. 40 days. That’s a long time to fast. A long time to be alone. A long time to go without food. It’s a long time not to drink much. Jesus is at his most vulnerable.
It is at this point that Satan appears. He understands who Jesus is. The Son of God. He knows that Jesus has the power to turn rocks into bread and Jesus is very hungry. “IF you ARE the Son of God,” Satan says, “command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
Do you hear it? Satan is not just tempting Jesus with access to food, knowing he is famished! Satan is challenging his authority. He’s challenging his very identity. IF you ARE the Son of God. Prove to me who you are by turning these stones into loaves of bread.
Jesus has a choice. Right now. Who will he listen to? God his Father – his very identity, or his belly and Satan who is challenging who Jesus is?
I think it’s a cop-out to say, well Jesus is God so of course he doesn’t succumb to Satan. But Jesus was fully human. And it is in his human state that Satan meets him in the wilderness. It is in his human state of hunger and thirst and vulnerability that Jesus is tested. Jesus knows what we face. Who does Jesus choose to listen to? Who will we?
So many voices tell us what we should or shouldn’t do. What we should or shouldn’t believe. What we should or shouldn’t want. What we do or don’t need. So many voices telling us that what they say is the truth; what they think is right. How do we decide? Who will we listen to?
What do these two stories; one at the beginning in the garden and one at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry teach us about listening and following? What do they teach us about discerning what we hear and deciding what is truth and what is not? What do they teach us we need in order to be able to tell the difference between who to listen to and who to walk away from? It’s not always clear. Remember, even Satan can quote scripture. Amen.
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